Singapore surprised me: Outstanding food, a heady mix of modern and vintage, walkable neighborhoods and infinity-pool views. Apart from the relentless saunalike weather, we had a great time at this year's event. Can't believe I've now attended my fifth USk symposium -- and this time as a participant, activity leader and board member!
We flew SFO > NRT > SIN. I started with a drawing on the airline's food tray placemat:
And then, sketched travelers during our layover in Narita, Japan:
Before the symposium got underway, we got to do a little sightseeing. It was so hot and humid that even my eyes were sweating. We visited Little India and then walked to Kampong Glam, with hipster boutiques in the shadow of the Sultan Mosque.
Dinner was at Lau Pa Sat market, which specialized in satay.
After a traditional hawker breakfast of roti prata and kaya toast dipped in soy sauce-drizzled soft-boiled eggs, we went to the Singapore Botanic Gardens. It's hard to imagine wearing uniforms with full sleeves and rubber boots in that stifling weather.
In the evening, I sketched people hanging out in the hotel lobby.
To be continued ... read Part 2
A few photos of yesterday's live sketch event at the Moleskine store at Time Warner Center in New York. Jason Das and I sketched, talked to people about Urban Sketchers and helped people get more comfortable with drawing.
A quick warm-up sketch on the train going to NY:
Here's Jason talking about techniques:
A young sketcher is completely focused on her drawing:
People on the escalator going to Whole Foods:
Shoppers, as motionless as mannequins, on the upper floor looking down over the lobby:
It was lots of fun, and we met a lot of great people! Will post more when I get scans of the sketches.
A quick warm-up sketch on the train going to NY:
Here's Jason talking about techniques:
A young sketcher is completely focused on her drawing:
People on the escalator going to Whole Foods:
Shoppers, as motionless as mannequins, on the upper floor looking down over the lobby:
It was lots of fun, and we met a lot of great people! Will post more when I get scans of the sketches.
Need weekend plans? Meet Jason Das, Richard Alomar, Josiah Hanchett and me at Moleskine's New York City Stories event this Saturday, May 17. Jason and I will be sketching at Moleskine's Time Warner Center (Columbus Circle) kiosk store and Richard and Josiah will be sketching at the Soho store.
To prepare, last weekend I tried out the Moleskine Art Plus Sketch Album to get comfortable with its smooth 81 lb paper.
In general I found that dry media worked beautifully, as advertised. Colored pencils, Noodler's Lexington Gray ink in a fountain pen, Pitt pens, Pigma Micron pens, Neocolor II crayons, etc. love this paper. Get any amount of water on it, however, and it's a different story -- the paper buckles and little dashes appear that don't go away even when dry.
I did find, however, that gesso or a layer of acrylic paint on the page created a decent ground for applying water-based media. Shellac-based ink splashes were fine, too.
Here's my "media sampler":
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